Chapter 3

From introducing each other to becoming acquaintances and, from that, to discover new friends,

things quickly changed into a happy chatter at various washbasins on various floors of that hostel that

morning.

Unlike others, Rupali was very quick with her morning chores. She wasn’t confused about what she

was going to wear on her first day to college. As a matter of fact, she had already kept aside all that she

was to wear—a white churidar, a pink kameez along with a white dupatta. She matched her attire with

the white sandals that she had chosen for herself when her father had taken her out for shopping. She

put on her pink earrings and the bangles that her brother, Tanmay, had bought for her with his pocket

money. A dainty watch on her left wrist and a touch of her favourite light-pink lipstick completed her

look.

Just as she was about to step out, a rhythmic tick-tack of high heels from the far end of the corridor

came to a dead stop outside her room. Then there was a knock at the door.

Rupali opened the door.

There stood a girl in skin-tight blue denims and black stilettos. She was wearing a loose off-shoulder

light grey T-shirt that showed off the straps of the black tank top she was wearing under it. Her

sunglasses hid her eyes but exhibited her style quotient. Her jaws moved in a rhythm as she continued to

chew gum.

As Rupali looked on, the young girl in front of her took off her sunglasses to say ‘Hi!’ and introduce

herself.

‘I am Saloni! Saloni Chadda! If you have been allotted this room, then I am your roommate!’ She

raced through her sentence.

‘Oh hi! I am Rupali. Come on in.’ Rupali offered her hand.

Saloni happily took her hand and gave her a hug.

Rupali noticed an old man who’d come and stood behind Saloni. He gestured to Saloni who said,

‘Hanji kaka, idhar andar rakh do,’ asking him to keep her luggage near the vacant bed on the other side

of the room.

Rupali looked shocked. She could not help but wonder what the old man was doing inside a girls’

hostel. As if reading her thoughts Saloni gave a short laugh and explained that he was her driver and

had accompanied her to drop her luggage.

‘Oh, that’s okay,’ Rupali said.

As soon as the driver left, the two of them spent a few minutes getting to know each other. Saloni told

Rupali that she might not be staying back at the hostel every day since she was from Noida. And even

though she didn’t need to stay at the hostel, she’d chosen it to get privacy from her family.

Rupali was again shocked at what this girl told her. She would have loved it if her family lived

around Delhi and if she didn’t have to stay at the hostel by herself. From Saloni’s clothes and behaviour

Rupali could make out that she belonged to a rich family.

‘She looks like a pampered child. Her father’s influence must have got her this room. Otherwise in a

scenario where hostel rooms are in short supply for students from other states, someone from the NCR

wouldn’t have managed to get one,’ Rupali thought.

‘Alright then, I am going to catch up with my friends in college. I will see you in the evening!’ Saloni

said and turned to leave.

‘Arey, arey wait! Even I am about to leave,’ Rupali said and rushed to grab her tiffin box. She picked

two laddoos and offered one to Saloni.

Saloni looked at it and blew a balloon out of the gum she was chewing. When it burst in her mouth,

she said, ‘Muh mein chewing gum hai, agli baar kha loongi.’ (I am chewing gum. I’ll take it next time.)

Rupali stood watching as Saloni left. She wondered if in the coming days the two of them would get

along well with each other.

Then she looked at her watch and realized that she was getting late for the orientation programme.

She placed the extra laddoo back in her tiffin box and ate the other one.

After a last-minute struggle with the door lock of her room, Rupali walked into the corridors of her

hostel. As she passed by, she overheard girls in various groups chatting among themselves. She smiled

at a few but didn’t stop to talk with anyone. She didn’t want to be late for the principal’s welcome

speech at the orientation venue.

With a bag hanging across her right shoulder, she walked down the paved path in between the green

lawns outside her hostel. A little ahead, she passed through the line of tall ashoka trees. She looked all

around her and appreciated the greenery on campus. She was happy that she had got a chance to live in

such a surrounding for a few years. But as she neared the college block, with every step, her anxieties

increased. It was a new beginning for her academic career.

Right in front of her stood the college in all its red-brick glory. Her eyes gleamed at the sight. She

sighed. Her first day in DU had finally begun. The whole campus had been transformed into a celebration zone. It was nothing less than a festival and that too, not just for the first year students, but

also for their seniors who played host to the new batch.

To be continued.

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